SOUND OF OLD ROOMS
25 September 2014 | Thursday, 7pm sharp | Everest Talkies, Fraser Town, Bangalore
Open for delegates only. Passes available at venue before the show.
A RAY PICTURES Production
Directed, Filmed and Edited by Sandeep Ray
Narrated by Sarthak Roychowdhury
Music by Sion Dey
Co‐Editor Subhadro Chowdhury
In Bengali, w/English subtitles TRT: 72 mins.
The Sound Of Old Rooms filmed over 20 years, traces the life of Sarthak, an Indian man who juggles his desire to be a poet with the practicalities of raising a family. As a college student he had time to drink with friends and discuss his writings; now with work commitments, he struggles to continue his dream. The crumbling home where he was raised and still lives with his nagging but affectionate mother, wife and young son is extremely cramped; he sleeps, as he has since a child, surrounded by books. Sarthak leads us through Kolkata's bars, apartments and alleyways as he tries to understand life and find meaning in his work.
Directors note:
"Even though this film looks back far into the past, I don't operate out of nostalgia but out of the immediacy of things. If anything the film is nostalgia for the present."
For more about the film -
https://www.facebook.com/SoundOfOldRooms?fref=ts
Fellow documentary filmmaker Nishtha Jain's note on the film -
Recently while watching this film I realized how much I'm still in love with Calcutta – it's narrow by-lanes, dilapidated buildings with mossy exteriors, cobwebbed doors leading to red-floored living rooms lined with book-shelves bending over with weight of books and an equal part of dust, rooms that reverberate conversations of the most rarefied nature even as it's residents holiday in some remote part of world. Yes, Bengalis love to travel. Recently, I bumped into one such traveler, Sandeep Ray, an academician and a filmmaker.
Crafted out of real lives and events, carefully stitched with nuances captured over twenty years, THE SOUND OF OLD ROOMS delights in all of it's 70 minutes, giving a sense of marvel at every cut and turn of sequence. Beginning in the early 90s, with what seems like a high-8 camera, with it's delightfully big pixels, saturated colors and RGB artefacts, Sandeep follows his cousin Sarthak Roychowdhury, a poet with the day job of an economist. The film documents Sarthak's struggles over the years to keep his passion of poetry alive while working to pay the bills. It beautifully charts his evolving relationship with his partner Ritu, also an economist and for me, the soul of this film and an epitome of all that Calcutta stands for me.
The film explores love – love of a young couple struggling to survive in a cramped old house and intellectual imbroglios; the love of a mother for a son with lofty ideas and a poor liver; commitment of the readers as their beloved poet goes through a creative block. The film manages to capture the spirit of Calcutta by focusing on the vicissitudes of one family.
The film not only re-affirms my faith in documentary but also in the fact that god is in the details. Sandeep concludes his film with a visual dedication to Apu Trilogy. Does it mean there'll be sequels to the Sound Of Old Rooms? I really hope so. It's a film that makes you want more.
* Locate Everest Talkies - http://www.vikalpbengaluru.org/everest-talkies.html *
25 September 2014 | Thursday, 7pm sharp | Everest Talkies, Fraser Town, Bangalore
Open for delegates only. Passes available at venue before the show.
A RAY PICTURES Production
Directed, Filmed and Edited by Sandeep Ray
Narrated by Sarthak Roychowdhury
Music by Sion Dey
Co‐Editor Subhadro Chowdhury
In Bengali, w/English subtitles TRT: 72 mins.
The Sound Of Old Rooms filmed over 20 years, traces the life of Sarthak, an Indian man who juggles his desire to be a poet with the practicalities of raising a family. As a college student he had time to drink with friends and discuss his writings; now with work commitments, he struggles to continue his dream. The crumbling home where he was raised and still lives with his nagging but affectionate mother, wife and young son is extremely cramped; he sleeps, as he has since a child, surrounded by books. Sarthak leads us through Kolkata's bars, apartments and alleyways as he tries to understand life and find meaning in his work.
Directors note:
"Even though this film looks back far into the past, I don't operate out of nostalgia but out of the immediacy of things. If anything the film is nostalgia for the present."
For more about the film -
https://www.facebook.com/SoundOfOldRooms?fref=ts
Fellow documentary filmmaker Nishtha Jain's note on the film -
Recently while watching this film I realized how much I'm still in love with Calcutta – it's narrow by-lanes, dilapidated buildings with mossy exteriors, cobwebbed doors leading to red-floored living rooms lined with book-shelves bending over with weight of books and an equal part of dust, rooms that reverberate conversations of the most rarefied nature even as it's residents holiday in some remote part of world. Yes, Bengalis love to travel. Recently, I bumped into one such traveler, Sandeep Ray, an academician and a filmmaker.
Crafted out of real lives and events, carefully stitched with nuances captured over twenty years, THE SOUND OF OLD ROOMS delights in all of it's 70 minutes, giving a sense of marvel at every cut and turn of sequence. Beginning in the early 90s, with what seems like a high-8 camera, with it's delightfully big pixels, saturated colors and RGB artefacts, Sandeep follows his cousin Sarthak Roychowdhury, a poet with the day job of an economist. The film documents Sarthak's struggles over the years to keep his passion of poetry alive while working to pay the bills. It beautifully charts his evolving relationship with his partner Ritu, also an economist and for me, the soul of this film and an epitome of all that Calcutta stands for me.
The film explores love – love of a young couple struggling to survive in a cramped old house and intellectual imbroglios; the love of a mother for a son with lofty ideas and a poor liver; commitment of the readers as their beloved poet goes through a creative block. The film manages to capture the spirit of Calcutta by focusing on the vicissitudes of one family.
The film not only re-affirms my faith in documentary but also in the fact that god is in the details. Sandeep concludes his film with a visual dedication to Apu Trilogy. Does it mean there'll be sequels to the Sound Of Old Rooms? I really hope so. It's a film that makes you want more.
* Locate Everest Talkies - http://www.vikalpbengaluru.org/everest-talkies.html *
